Inteltrends: Burma Report 02-JUL-2010

A group of Burmese ethnic rebels currently held in an Indian jail will next week enter into a plea bargain in what could be a momentous final stretch in a marathon 12-year fight for justice. The group, composed of 10 fighters from the Karen National Union (KNU) and 24 from the now-defunct National Unity Party of Arakan (NUPA), were lured in 1998 to the Indian Andaman Islands by an Indian intelligence officer named Colonel Grewal, who offered them a safe haven. He has since disappeared, and evidence suggests he may have been a double agent working for the Burmese military. On arriving on Indian soil the group were accused of weapons smuggling; six of the men were murdered by Indian security forces and the rest placed in detention, in what has come to be known as Operation Leech…

Secret peace talks between the Karen National Union (KNU) and the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) were held in Kanchanaburi Province in Thailand in June, according to sources close to the KNU. Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Friday, a KNU source in the Three Pagodas Pass area, said, “The peace talks were held from June 17 to 23 in Kanchanaburi. Three leaders from DKBA and two from the KNU took part in the talks.” The three DKBA leaders reportedly included influential Buddhist Abbot Ashin Thuzana; Col Lah Pwe, better known as Mr. Beard; and Saw Naw Tayar, a military official. Two KNU leaders, Gen Mu Tu, the commander in chief of the KNLA, and a KNU military officer known as Oliver, also took part. David Takapaw, the deputy KNU chairman, told The Irrawaddy that he had no information about the talks. He said that the KNU district administration may have initiated the talks and did not have to report to headquarters until a substantive agreement had been achieved…

Chinese officials had urged ceasefire groups opposing the Border Guard Force (BGF) program to continue negotiating Naypyitaw-drawn with junta authorities until an agreement acceptable to all is reached, according to a source close to the Mongla-based National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA)…